Apparatus for making carpets



June 9, 1942- H. P. FARIS ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPETS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 8, 1939 INVENTORS HAROLD P. PARIS DANIEL W. YOCHUM RU SS ELL B. LOGAN 6 ATTORNEYS June 1942- H. P. FARIS ET AL APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPETS Filed March 8, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 NwE INVENTOR 3 HAROLD R FARIS y DANIEL wxocnum RU SSELL B. LOGAN WB'WTTORNEYS J1me 1942- H. P. FARls ET AL APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPETS Filed March 8, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS HAROLD P.FARIS 'DANIEL WXOCHUM RUSSELL B.LOGAN ATTORNEYS Patented June 9, 1942 mm;- STATES 2,285,650 J arigmrus non mmmc CAjtPETS I 'nmlli' r. Faris, Philadelphia, re and-Daniel w;

Yochum and Russell B. Logan, Trenton, vN. 1.,

asslgnors to National Automotive Fibres, Inc; Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Application March 8, 1939, Serial No. 260,66%

3 Claims. (01. 91-s) The present invention relates to floor covering and more particularly to a cemented flock.

carpet integrally combined with an under padding of sponge rubber. y

In themanufacture of flock floor. coverings one of the primary essentials is to secure the flock permanently to the floor covering. In the past, efforts to accomplish this result have been only partially successful for a number of reaerings have been manufactured and have been used with under paddings of various natures, such for example as felt pads. The pads have been used as an. entirely separate element in this purpose to provide a novel method and apparatus for preparing the flock.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent .as the description proceeds, and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings I o a According to priorpractices, flocked floor cov- We have found that it is possible to. manufacture integrally formed padded-flocked floor covering in which the under padding is a layer of sponge rubber. This results in a unitary structure, and further we have found that flock'is much more securely anchored than in previously known constructions.

In order to carry out the manufacture of our novel floor covering, we have designed apparatus adapted to carry out our preferred method. This apparatus includes the novel mechanism for handling the floor covering during its assembly; novel apparatus for heat treating the assembled floor covering in a manner to avoid the formation of permanent bends or folds therein; andnovel apparatus for preparing flock from generally 'unspinnable hair, or-other fiber.

It is an object of thev present invention to produce an integrally formed padded flocked floor covering. 7 7

It is a further object of the present invention to produce an integrally formed flocked floor covering combined with a sponge rubber under It is a further object of the present inven-- combined with a lower coating of blowing rubber Figs. 1-0 and 1?) illustrate diagrammatically the complete apparatus; I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation with parts broken away of the mechanism for applying flock;

Fig.3 is a section through one of the beater elements; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective showing the apparatus for preparing flock;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary broken section through our improved floor covering; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic elevation of a modi fled vulcanizing chamber. Y

Briefly described, the apparatus for manufacturing our improved floorcovering comprises: a mechanism for applying flock to an adhesive coated'open-work fabric; mechanism for drying the adhesive; and a .vulcanimngchamber for vulcanizing thesponge rubber stock.

In Figs. 1a and 1b we have illustrated the flock applying apparatus generally indicated'at mined thickness of cement to the burlap side of the fabric and the blowing rubber stock. Suitable means, such for example as a hand wheel it, are provided for varying the thickness of the coating applied.

Within the machine are provided a pair of rollers l1 and 18, around which is positioned a protective webbing or belt IS. The protective webbing l9 passes over a plurality of beating elements 20 which are in the. form of polygonal rods 2|, as shown in Fig. 3. These rods may have any convenient number of sides, but inFig. 3 are illustrated as hexagonal. Suitable mechanism (not shown) is provided for rapidly rotating the rods 2| in a manner to vibrate the webbing it.

One of the important features of the present invention is the manner in which the rubber coated and adhesive coated fabric is advanced through the machine synchronously with the protective web or belting l9. As shown in Fig. l,

the floor covering as assembled advances into contact with the web l9. As previously stated the floor covering at this time has as its under surface a coating of blowing rubber stock. This z sfiii bration thereof, and the rubber coated fabric is under sufficient tension to prevent it being beaten away from the web or belting i9.

Flock is sifted downwardly through the hopper 22 into a rotating; open-ended screen 22, which distributes the flock evenly 'across the adhesive coated surface of the floor covering.

, time, due to the vibration imparted by the rollers 2i, the flock is caused to stand on end and to become imbedde'd to a considerable degree in the soft coating of adhesive. Some of the flock passes through the lower end of the rotating screen 22 and is drawn downwardly through a conduit 24. Some of the flock which falls to the adhesive coated surface is displaced therefrom and falls downwardly to the bottom of the casing where it is picked up by a screw conveyor 25, shown in detail in Fig. 2. A second hopper 26 is provided for adding a second coating of flock to the advancing ilocr covering, and in this case a plurality of rotating blades, indicated generally at 21 (Fig. 2), serve to break up the flock and deposit it evenly over the floor covering.

As a final step,a suction nozzle 28 is located adjacent the floor covering as'it leaves the machine and serves to pick up any loose or excess hook and return it to the flock distributing system.

In Fig. la we have illustrated apparatus for returning flock from the suction nozzle 22 to the first hopper 22, although, if preferred, it may be arranged to feed the flock to the second hopper 20. Also, if desired, suitable valves may be provided to return-the flock to either the hopper 22 or the hopper 28, as preferred.

In Fig. 2 we have shown the flock applying apparatus in an enlarged scale. It will be noted At this 4 aasaca'o adhuive coated and rubber coated fabric beadvanced through the machine synchronously with the'web or belting I, and forthis purpose suit-.

able driving mechanism for the various feed rolls will be provided. These may be of conventional nature, and are accordingly not illustrated herein.

Referring again to Figs. la and lb, the ilock coated floor covering passes over a rollergll, while the protective web or belting passes over a separate roller II. This causes positive mechanical separation of the web or belting II and the flock coated fabric. It will be appreciated that, if desired, the protective web or belting ll coated fabric could continue with the flock through subsequent steps in the manufacture, but for convenience we prefer to separate the floor covering and the protective web or belting at this point.

-A conveyor 36 comprising a pair of feed rollers 31 and 38. advance the flock covered fabric into a drying chamber, indicated generally at 4.. It

covering assembly directly from the flocking apparatus to the vulcanizing chamber. In Fig. la

that in Figs. lo and 2 we have illustrated slightly per 20, which cooperates with rotating blades 21.

In Fig. 2 a blower 39 is adapted to force flock upwardly through a conduit 29 into the first hopper 22. The flock which passes endwise through the screen and out the lower end thereof passes downwardly through a conduit 24. The flock which is displaced from the vibrating floor covering, as it passes through the machine, falls to the lower part of the casing and is conveyed by the screw conveyor 25 to a horizontal conduit 3|. The suction nozzle 28 picks up the excess and unattached flock as it leaves the machine and feeds it downwardly through a conduit ii to the blower 29 and hopper 22. A second blower indicated generally at 32' forces the flock received from conduit 24 and screw 25 upwardly through a conduit 33 to the second hopper.

This system of flock distribution is merely illustrative, and by the'provision of suitable valves within the conduit the circulation of flock may be changed. For example, it may be desirable to return flock from the horizontal conduit II to the original blower 39 for passage through the first hopp r 22.

As previously stated, it is essential that the -43 which passes a current of air through the chamber 4|. Preferably heating means, such for example as steam pipes, are located in the chamber.

The partially dried flock covered fabric is next advanced into a vulcanizing chamber 4!. At this time the blowing rubber stock is subjected to sufficient heat to cause the same to swell and form a spongerubber, and at the same time to become firmly vulcanized to the open-work fabric. As will be subsequently described, at this time also the flock is firmly attached into the completed article. In order to avoid forming festoons or loops of the completed floor covering, which would result in imparting permanent bends in the completed fabric, we prefer to advance the floor covering horizontally in the same straight line into the vulcanizing chamber 45. For this purpose, we provide a plurality of conveyors 40. These conveyors are vertically adjustable in the housing 4!, suitable ways 41 being provided therefor. If desired, automatic mechanism (not shown) maybe provided to move the conveyors 48 vertically through the chamber 45.

The arrangement is such that as one conveyor 48 becomes filled with the flock coated fabric rotation of its rollers 42 will be arrested, and the conveyor moved vertically downward to permit the next succeeding conveyor of identical construction to be moved into position to receive a length of floor covering. Simultaneously therewith, and either manually or by appropriate automatic mechanism, the advancing floor covering is severed and the free end is led on to the second conveyor. .7

This permits continuous advance of the flock covered floor covering through the flock applying apparatus into the heating chamber without the necessity of.providing-an excessively long heating .chamber. Itis necessary to retain the product in the heating chamber fora substantial length. of time in order to effect swelling and vulcanization of the rubber stock. By theherein disclosed arrangement, a heating chamber'of relatively short lengthmay be employed: At the same time the product may .be'retained in the heating chamber for a substantial length f time-.-

Other mechanism for accomplishing this samepurpose may be substituted, and we have illustrated in Fig. 6 such an-arrangement In this modification a casing |],which is provided with suitable heating means, such "for example as steam pipes (not shown), is provided with a plurality of fixed conveyors 5|. The casing 50is provided with an inlet opening 52, and adjacentthe opening is 'an apron 53 which may be in the form of a sheet metal plate. The plate 53 ispivoted, .as indicated at 54, and anarcuate rubber 51.- This-is clearly shown by tests. When a-section offlock is mechanicallytorn from its base, wefind thatthe'bon'd isdisrupted within the sponge rubber. indicating that there a permanentvulcanized bond between'the deposited rubber ply 53' and the sponge rubber ply 5|.

. The exceptional characteristicfio'f 'thisbond slot 55 in the casing 50 is provided, concentrically arranged with the pivot: point 54. Suitable adjusting means, such as a handle 56, extends through the arcuate slot 55 and connect to the plate 53. i 7 A Lead rollers 51 of the conveyor belts 5|- are also arranged generally concentrically of the pivot point 54. As will be apparent from" an inspection of Fig. 6, the arrangement is such that as the plate 53 is swung to adjusted positions, the

advancing end of the floor covering may be directed to any one of. theconveyor .belts 5|.

,Thus when a predetermined length ,of floorucovering has been deposited on one of the moving 1 conveyors. 5|, further advance of the-conveyor is arrested, the floor covering is severed andthe advancing free end is; directed'to another conveyor 5| by suitable adjustment of the p ate 53.

Preferably suitable mechanism is associated.

with the control handle 56 for automatically initiating movement of a conveyor 5| when the plate .53 ispositioned to direct the floor covering thereto. This means maytake theform of a switch to operate independent motors driving, the various conveyors,. or preferably will take the form of a clutch of suitableconstruc tion for con-- necting the constantly actuated driver to the feed roller 51 of the associated conveyor. I

By this means, as soon as the conveyor 5|- has received a predetermined length of fabric, its motion, is arrested and the assembly isretained inthe heating chamber 50 for a suiiicient length of time to insure full swelling and complete vul-- canization of the blowing rubber stock. By pro-*' viding the proper number of conveyors in ac.-- cordance with the len th of time necessary, the

floor covering on, any. given conve'yor will have *thin coating of rubber cement into'the upper surface. of the softened blowing rubber stock. The softening of'the 'uppersurfa'ce of sponge rubber stock has a further beneficial result in that it substantially improves blowing of the stock. .We have found that it is essential that received. its proper heat treatment at the time when its feed motion is again initiated, andthe completed floor covering is fed therefrom while the raw floor covering is fed thereto. It be noted that the floor covering throughout its enthe length is subjected to a constant curing interval by this arrangement forthe reasonthat I discharge of a the completed product from; the heating chamber occurs at the same rate asinchamber.

In Fig. 5 we have' illustrated the completed product which comprises a flock fabric 60. This fabric may be a coarseburlap, or other material. Below the burlap, and permanently vulcanized thereto isa relativelythick layer 6| of sponge rubber. At the left of this figure we have illustrated an under coating of fabric 62 which may,

'65 troduction of, the raw floor. covering into the attributed to the particular-"method employed. The adhesive 'which'is applied is "preferably a rubber cement containing a petroleum Ora-coaltar solvent. This cement penetrates through the open-work fabric 60 and simultaneously'softens the'uppencoating'of the blowing rubber stock 5|.- There is no definite separation between the upper surface of the-blowing rubber stock 6| and the lowersurface of the cement, but instead the two blend intoeach other. We have illustratedthis condition at the right in'Fig; 5. a

g The bondmay be enhanced by employing separate adhesives; One of these may be a synthetic;

such as Neoprene and Chlorp'rene. "Where syntheticrubber is employed, the solvent' 'may be a coal tar solvent. It has been found that the syn}? vv thetic rubber cement forms a'better bond with the fabric. A' second coating of a normal rubber adhesive is applied over the synthetic rubber cementyor, if desired, the two may be mixed. "Ih

either case, the solvent penetrates the burlap anjd' softens the upper coating of the blowing rubber" stock.

Apparently this softening ofthe' upper surface of 'the blowing rubber stock also'explains to'a considerable degree the strength of the bond with the flock. The flock during vibration 'is firmlyembedded in the upper surface of the material'- and penetrates completely through the relatively the stock beof such a nature thatblowing issubstantially completed before vult'za nization takes place. It is further essential thatthe Burma andthe adhesive coated fabricremainporous so,

long as blowing is taking place.- Otherwise'blowing of "the sponge rubber "stock'causes ape-5' chanical 1 separation between the burlap' and the 1 stock. a v

In place -o'f*rubber cement" various adversely with-the rubber.

The softening of 'the blowing rubber Jstock" renders the material quite susceptible 'to injury prior to vulcanization by handling, and it is therefore essential in "the present 'method that the material be handled in such a way as to avoid placing strains on the blowing rubber stock, such -e' m n materials may be employed; but} in" general" it is found that the results obtained areless s'at is factory-than with rubber ceme'nt'QThisi is prob? ably due to the presenceof oxidizing agents in the resin solvents which have a' tendency to act paring fiock for the present process. In this figure a rotating multiple bladed knife II is provided, driven from the motor II. Flock is advanced along apron 12 to which it is fed from between a pair of opposed conveyors I3 provided with projections to pick the fibrous material from the mass. A plurality of rollers ll, II, II," and II are provided, and as illustrated these are all driven from the motor Ii. Arrangement is such that each succeeding roller has a slightly greater peripheral speed than the preceding roller. In other words, the roller II has a greater peripheral speed than roller I4, and the roller II has a greater peripheral speed than roller ll, etc. The increasing speed of successive rollers may be taken care. of by increasing the diameter of the rollers, or by decreasing the diameter of the pulleys ll progressively from first to last.

Due to the increased speed of successive rollers, the fibrous material is drawn into substantially parallelism, and the fibers are arranged substantially perpendicular to the rotatingv cutter ll. As the fibers advance over the block 80, the knife edges cut the fiber into predetermined lengths. The length of fiber may be varied by varying the rate of feed of the fibers, or the rate of rotation of the cutter ID, or both.

By this means it is possible to employ hair or other generally unspinnable fiber which it would otherwise be impossible to use. Thus the economy of the whole method is substantially increased since these unspinnable fibers are relatively inexpensive. At the same time it has been found that fibers of this nature are better suited to the product than fibers of spun yarn, such as wool, rayon, cotton, or the like.

It has further been found that the product resulting from the herein described method exhibits substantial important advantages over similar products known to the prior art. The padding material in the form of sponge rubber substantially increases the wear of the product. The surface appearance is improved due to the fact that it is absolutely uniform and is not streaked as sometimes occurs in woven fabric or cemented pile fabric made according to known methods. The fiock pile exhibits superior wearing qualities due to the fact that it may be of a nature such for example as goat hair. The product further exhibits wearing qualities due to the superior strength of the bond resulting. The final product is absolutely self-leveling and need not be adhesively secured to a fiat surface. It may be die cut to any predetermined size and shape, and if desired a binding may be applied, either sewed or otherwise secured. The fioor covering is integral as opposed to some previous constructions in which a pad was adhesively secured to the carpet after completion of the carpet. The pad serves the double function of increasing wear of the completed product and also, as previously pointed out, increases materially to the strength of the bond with the fiock. The texture of the product will vary with the nature of the fiber, and a proper selection may be made between stiff hard fibers. or relatively soft fibers.

While we have illustrated and described several specific embodiments of'our invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various additions, modifications, omissions, combinations and substitutions may be made which will be within the spirit and scope of our invention asdefined by the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is: 1. In carpet making apparatus, means for sifting cut fibers downwardly onto an advancing, ad-

hesive coated web, said means comprising a polygonal rotating sieve open at its ends and inclined from the horizontal, a hopper for fibers, and means connecting said hopper and the upper end of said sieve for feeding fibers thereto, a conduit connecting to the lower end of said sieve to receive fibers which do not pass radially through the sieve. a trough beneath said web for receiving fibers which pass radially through said sieve and do not remain on said web, a distributor located above said web at a point further along in the direction of advance than said sieve, a second conduit connecting 'said first conduit and said trough with said distributor, and a blower for forcing fibers through said second conduit to said distributor.

2. In carpet making apparatus. means for sifting cut fibers downwardly onto an advancing, adhesive coated web, said means comprisinga polygonal rotating sieve open at its ends and inclined from the horizontal, a hopper for fibers, and means connecting said hopper and the upper end of said sieve for feeding fibers thereto, a conduit connecting tothe lower end of said sieve to receive fibers which do not pass radially through the sieve, a trough beneath said web for receiving fibers which pass radially through said sieve and do not remain on said web, a screw conveyor for conveying fibers along said trough, a, distributor located above said web at a point further along in the direction of advance than said sieve, a second conduit connecting said first conduit and the discharge end of said trough with said distributor, and a blower for forcing fibers through said second conduit to said distributor.

3. In carpet making apparatus, means for sift- -ing cut fibers downwardly onto an advancing,

adhesive coated web, said means comprising 'a polygonal rotating sieve open at its ends and inclined from the horizontal, a hopper for fibers, and means connecting said hopper and the upper end of said sieve for feeding fibers thereto, a conduit connecting to the lower end of said sieve to receive fibers which do not pass radially through the sieve, a trough beneath said web for receiving fibers which pass radially through said sieve and do not remain on said web, a distributor located above said web at a point further along in the direction of advance than said sieve, a second conduit connecting said first conduit and said trough with said distributor, and a blower for forcing fibers through said second conduit to said distributor, said distributor including rotary blades for breaking up balls of fibers which have passed axially through said sieve or which have formed in said trough. HAROLD P. FARIS.

DANIEL W. YOCHUM. RUSSELL B. LOGAN. 

